On April 5, 1974, Bertha Adams died. This 71-year-old weighed only 50 pounds when she died of malnutrition in West Palm Beach, Florida. She was known for being the woman who would often beg door to door. Yet after her death, the authorities discovered that she left behind a small fortune of...
Toothbrushes ought not to be shared. When a toothbrush is opened and used by someone to brush his or her teeth, that toothbrush should not also be used to shine shoes, scrub the tub or wash dishes. That toothbrush should be used only for the one purpose for which it was created.
When Peter...
I run a car wash. Cars and trucks of all sizes, shapes, and colors come to get clean. I know a lot about how to get a car clean. I also know something about how a car works. One thing I know about how a car ought to operate best: Only one person should be driving the car.
Being given an...
On my 40th birthday, I realized that I would begin to have to use reading glasses. Up to then, I had enjoyed perfect vision. I adjusted the best I could to the new reality: I was a reading glasses wearer. With my glasses, I had the perspective to see things clearly.
One day soon after I turned...
The coming of the Lord Jesus Christ to earth in the Incarnation, His living among us as the Emmanuel and His death for us as the Atonement for sin as well as His resurrection are the high points of history – so far. The Old Testament prophets looked ahead and the modern day Christians...
The president of the school board of my wife’s school sometimes teaches at the school. He reminds the young scholars that there are eleven words for success: “Yes, Sir. No, Sir. Yes, Ma’am. No, Ma’am. Please. Thank you.” He is right that being thankful is a vital...
I am not a cook and do not really know my way around the kitchen very well. In fact, one time I tried to make Kool-Aid and proudly gave the drink to our children. When they said “Yuck!” I reviewed my steps: I had mixed the packet of mix with water but had left out a needed...
An elementary teacher had given her science class a lesson about magnets. Hoping that they had learned well about the attraction of the poles and how useful magnets are in today’s society, she decided to give a simple quiz. One question asked this: “My name starts with M, I have six...
Have you ever gotten a letter for the wrong person? That is probably good news if someone is trying to collect a debt, but bad news if the letter is to report the winning of the lottery. One of my dearest cousins sent me a lengthy note that was intended to go to one of her friends; it talked...
Years ago a pastor told a fictitious story about a man who had survived the Johnstown Flood, which occurred on May 31, 1889, when the South Fork Dam on the Little Conemaugh River failed, flooding the community of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. According to the story everywhere this man went he...